Decision details

That the extension of the contract, activating the existing extension clause, alongside a further 6-month extension via the Contract Variation process (Regulation 72 of the Public Contract Regulations) beyond the predefined contract duration be approved. The extension would commence from 1^st October 2021 until 30^th September 2022 and would have an estimated value of £194k, whilst the budget would be £173k.

Following the presentation of an Award Report at Care Services Policy and Scrutiny Sub Committee (10 January 2017), Bromley, Lewisham and Greenwich (BLG) Mind were granted a contract to provide a respite service for carers of older people with dementia to help them maintain their caring roles. The contract commenced on 1 April 2017 for a period of 3 years and was due to expire on 31 March 2020. However, there was an option to extend the contract for up to a further two years on a 1+1 basis.

Following the Adult Care and Health PDS on 17 November 2019, the Portfolio Holder for Adult Care and Health approved the extension of the contract for a period of 1 year from 1 April 2020 until 31 March 2021 and a variation to the hourly rates (Report - ACH19018). A further one-year extension option remained. There has been an additional contract extension, from 31 March 2021 to September 2021 in accordance with Executive approval to delegate contract extensions approval to the Chief Officer, with the agreement of the Portfolio Holder, where commissioning has been impacted by the pandemic (report CSD20062 - Covid-19 Procurement Implications).

The contract was awarded as detailed above, and consequently there is a further (final) option to extend the contract up to 31 March 2022. However, the recommendation is that this service is extended up to 30 September 2022. Therefore, the request is for the activation of the existing extension clause alongside a 6 month extension beyond the original term.